


Helpful Hands

by colorfulmagic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: BakodaFleetWeek, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, The Gaang has one brain cell and they’re using it to get their step dads together, cuz Zuko, like one line, modern au/with kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colorfulmagic/pseuds/colorfulmagic
Summary: Matchmaking is not as easy as it sounds, as the Gaang soon realizes.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), background Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 84
Kudos: 204
Collections: Bakoda Fleet Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for BakodaFleetWeek, for the prompt: modern au/with kids

Zuko stopped in place, staring out the patio door. “Agni,” he muttered, then turned and ran up the stairs, feet pounding against the carpet. He slammed open Sokka’s door, panting slightly. 

“Sokka,” Zuko said urgently. “Your dad has gone insane.”

“What?” Sokka said, slipping his headset off and turning in his chair to look at him. 

“Your dad,” Zuko repeated. “He’s gone insane. He’s beating someone up in the backyard.”

_ “What?!” _ Sokka said, voice incredulous. He hurriedly unraveled himself from the various wires connecting him to the computer and ran to the large window which overlooked the backyard. Zuko waited anxiously for his reaction. Sokka’s dad has always been so nice, much nicer than Zuko’s dad. He didn’t know how Sokka would react to this new aspect of him. What he got was not what he had been expecting. 

“Oh,” Sokka said, laughing. “That’s just Bato.”

Zuko stared. “Great,” he said sarcastically. “Now we know the name of the man your father is beating up. That fixes absolutely everything!” 

“He’s Dad’s best friend,” Sokka said, rolling his eyes. “And he’s not beating him up, they’re sparring. They haven’t done this in a while, actually.” Sokka looked excited. “Come on, let’s go watch them.”

Sokka grabbed his hand, and Zuko valiantly attempted to force down his blush. He dragged Zuko down the hall, banging on Katara’s door on the way. 

“I’m busy!” she yelled through the door. 

“Dad and Bato are sparring,” Sokka yelled back. There were a series of concerning noises that came from Katara’s room, involving a crash and what sounded like several small objects falling to the floor before Katara poked out of her door. 

“Really?” she asked, with just as much excitement on her face as Sokka’s. Zuko was starting to think he was missing something. Sokka nodded, face smug, and Katara closed the door for a minute before emerging, looking much more put together than before. She had several bottles of nail polish, all carefully arranged in a small bag, in her hands. “Let’s go,” she said, and they dashed down the stairs, Sokka holding tight onto his hand the whole time. 

They made their way to the sprawling backyard, sitting on the grass along the fence to watch the two men. Up close, Zuko could see what he had missed from inside the house. This wasn’t beating each other up. It wasn’t even sparring. It was art. 

They moved almost quicker than Zuko could follow, parrying and lunging with an ease that made him jealous. Zuko had started learning with the Dao swords, recently, but he knew he had a long way to go before he was a master. These two men clearly were. They were fighting with long spears, and he caught a glint of metal that told him these were real, and wickedly sharp. 

“I didn’t know your dad could do that,” Zuko said, wincing as the tip of the spear jabbed dangerously close to the side of Sokka’s dad’s— Hakoda, he had asked Zuko to call him— face. Zuko watched in astonishment as Hakoda fluidly swept the spear away with his own, wiping at the trickle of blood on his cheek and— laughing?

“Yeah, him and Bato have been sparring together since they were little,” Sokka said, not shifting his head from the spectacle. He was looking at his dad with something like hero worship in his eyes, and Zuko felt a flare of jealousy for his own relationship with his father, which he viciously pushed down. “It's a family thing,” Sokka continued. “Dad’s dad taught him, when he was my age.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, looking at him in interest. “So you can do that too?”

“Oh, uh,” Sokka said, jerking his head to him for the first time. “I mean— yeah.” Sokka pushed his sleeves up and flexed his arms slightly, looking pleased.

Katara snorted from beside him, blowing on her painted nails. “Since when? Did I miss you becoming a master spearman when I was in my room?”

“Katara!” Sokka scowled. “Okay, but I can use a Boomerang,” Sokka said, directed towards where Zuko was sitting, but Zuko’s attention had been caught by something else. 

“Agni,” Zuko muttered again, leaning forward and clutching the grass underneath him with white knuckles. “Shouldn’t we help them?” Who, he wasn’t sure, but one of them surely. The fighting was increasing in intensity, something Zuko hadn’t even been aware could happen. A flurry of hits and blocks were being exchanged so quickly it looked like a dance, the steps too complex and fluid for Zuko to understand. 

“Uh, I like my head where it is, thanks,” Sokka laughed. “Besides, this is right where it gets interesting!”

“Red, purple, or green?” Katara asked him thoughtfully, looking at his fingernails. She seemed to be done with her hands, and was looking for a new victim. 

“Red,” Zuko said decisively, wiggling his fingers. 

“Good choice,” she said. Zuko smiled, placing his hand in hers before turning his attention back to the fight. 

Zuko got the sense that the spar was coming to an end. He wasn’t sure who it would go to, exactly, but there was no way they could keep up this intensity of motion for very long. When it did end, Zuko almost missed it. They had been going for the past few minutes, when the other man— Bato, Sokka had called him— took a single step forward and suddenly Hakoda’s spear was quivering in the ground several feet from where they were standing. The tip of Bato’s spear was hovering directly over Hakoda’s heart, and Sokka’s dad slowly raised his hands up. Something passed between them, an intense look that made Zuko feel like he was intruding on something personal, before finally Bato stepped away and the two men relaxed. 

Zuko started clapping. Sokka and Katara joined in, cheering for Bato and booing their dad. The two men jerked their heads toward them, for the first time seeming to notice their presence. 

A broad grin crossed Hakoda’s face, and he jogged up to them, Bato following behind him at a more sedate pace. 

“Hey guys,” Hakoda said, ruffling Sokka’s hair. “What are you doing out here?”

“Watching you get your butt handed to you, apparently,” Katara said, grinning. 

“That,” he flicked Katara’s shoulder, “is a gross overstatement of what just happened.”

“I don’t know Koda.” Bato finally caught up to them, looking amused. “It seemed pretty accurate to me.”

“You’re biased,” Hakoda said immediately. “Besides, I’m out of practice.”

“Which one is it, are you out of practice or am I biased?” Bato asked, grin tugging against the corner of his mouth as he leaned against the fence. 

Hakoda rolled his eyes, and his gaze finally caught on where Zuko was sitting. “Hey kiddo,” he said warmly. Zuko got up and Hakoda pulled him into a hug. He was warm, and slightly sweaty. It felt— safe. Zuko tried not to hug back so tight that it would be weird.

“How’s home?” Hakoda asked quietly, drawing him away slightly from where Zuko could hear Sokka asking Bato to show him some of his moves. Hakoda kept his hand on Zuko’s shoulder, and there was something that looked like concern in his eyes, and it was making Zuko want to cry, which would be bad. 

“It’s okay,” Zuko said, blinking. “Mostly the same.”

“Hm,” Hakoda said, but didn’t press. His eyes swept over Zuko, and Zuko tried not to draw attention to his arms, even though he knew the bruises would be covered by his shirt. “Have you been practicing those self defense moves I taught you?”

“Yes,” Zuko said, brightening. “I think I’ve got the hang of the one where you throw them over your shoulder. I could show you later, if you want.”

“I’d love to,” Hakoda said, smiling. “You could show Sokka, too. He hasn’t stopped complaining since he found out I had a lesson without him and Katara.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, looking over at where Sokka was laughing with his head tilted back at something Bato had said. He looked especially handsome in the late afternoon sun. “Yeah, that could be good.”

“Hm,” Hakoda said, raising an eyebrow. Zuko jerked his head back to meet his eyes. “Well,” Hakoda said, clapping his shoulder. “I’m going to go get something to drink.” He shifted his attention to the general group at large. “Bato, you want anything?”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” Bato said easily, moving next to Hakoda. “You need to take care of that anyways,” he added, catching Hakoda’s chin with his hand and tilting his head to look at the slowly oozing cut on his cheek. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

Hakoda huffed out a laugh. “I’ve given you worse, before.”

“Hm,” Bato said, before dropping his hand. They set off towards the house, bickering amicably. Zuko watched them go, before turning to where Sokka and Katara were sitting. 

“I didn’t know your dad had a boyfriend,” Zuko said. “How long have they been together?” He settled down on the grass, and when he looked up Sokka was looking at him slack jawed. “What?” Zuko said, suddenly self conscious. 

“A boyfriend?” Sokka asked blankly. “Who?”

“Um. Bato? Who else?”

“Bato and Dad aren’t dating,” Katara said, shaking her head. 

“Are you sure?” Zuko said dubiously. The three of them looked over to the clear patio door, through which Zuko could see them. Hakoda was sitting on the counter, Bato in front of him dabbing at the cut with some sort of cloth. Hakoda’s head was tilted against the cabinet as they chatted. 

“They’re really good friends?” Sokka said uncertainly. Bato finished bandaging the cut and Hakoda hopped down. They were so close they were probably breathing the same air. Hakoda smiled and moved away, and Bato’s face fell, slumping a little.

“Oh,” Sokka said. “That’s kind of mean.”

“Dad isn’t mean,” Katara said immediately. “Probably he just doesn’t know.”

“Well, let’s tell him,” Sokka said, face lighting up. He moved to get up, but Katara held him in place. 

“Hang on just a second. Are we sure this is a good idea? Does Dad even like guys?”

“Well,” Sokka said thoughtfully. “He said George Clooney was hot, when we were watching Ocean’s Eleven.”

“But that’s George Clooney,” Zuko pointed out. “Everyone thinks George Clooney is hot.”

“Okay, but Bato  _ is _ really handsome,” Sokka said. 

“That’s true,” Katara said thoughtfully. “If I had to choose between him and George Clooney, it would definitely be him. Alright, let’s do this. We have a new mission: get Dad and Bato together!”

“But how?” Sokka asked, brows furrowing. 

They sat in silence for a while, thinking hard. “Maybe,” Zuko said finally. “We could just tell them.” Sokka and Katara immediately burst into laughter. Zuko stared at them, unimpressed. 

“That’ll never work,” Sokka waved him off. “What we need is a plan.” Sokka rubbed his chin for a second. “Right,” Sokka said finally. “This calls for backup.”

~~~

“You want to do what?” Suki asked, tilting her head over the couch. Sokka had called a meeting for the full Team Avatar (what they called their group chat, for reasons Sokka couldn’t really remember anymore) citing a code red. Half of them were already there, so it didn’t take long for Toph, Suki, and finally Aang to come trickling in. 

“We need to get my dad and Bato together,” Sokka said impatiently. He tapped on the whiteboard he had dragged into his bedroom, which was serving as their informal war room. “Ideas? Literally, anything is better than what we have right now. Which is nothing.”

“I think,” Toph said, staring up at the ceiling from where she was lying on her back. “That we should shove them in a locked room and not let them out until they kiss. Maybe we can even tie them together!”

There was a moment of awkward silence as everyone stared at her. Sokka wrote it down in the  _ maybe _ column. “Anyway,” he said. “Any other ideas?”

“Gyatso always told me that the best way to a lady’s heart is being honest and complimenting her a lot,” Aang said. “So, maybe just tell your dad that Bato likes him, and give him ideas for compliments?”

“Bato’s not a lady, though,” Zuko pointed out. 

“I think it works either way,” Aang said, balancing his rotating fidget spinner on his knuckle. Sokka wrote it on the board. 

“We can’t just tell Dad, though,” Katara said, wringing her hands nervously. “I mean, what if Dad doesn’t like him back? Imagine how awkward that would make their friendship.”

“Yeah,” Sokka said, determinedly looking away from where Zuko was sitting. “You’re probably right.”

“What we need is to approach this from a different angle,” Suki said. “If we can’t just outright tell him, maybe we can imply it. Like, show him what he’s missing by them not being together. Make  _ him _ want to be with Bato without ever telling him Bato likes him.”

“Huh,” Sokka said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “That’s not bad. Alright, unless anyone has anything better, this is the new plan. Any objections?” 

They all shook their heads. 

“Who’s gonna talk to him, though?” Aang asked. 

“I will,” Sokka said. He was the one who knew Bato best, along with Katara of course. 

“You’re going to have to be subtle,” Suki said doubtfully. 

“I am a master of subtlety,” Sokka said.

~~~

“Man,” Sokka said brightly. “Don’t you just love Bato?”

Hakoda flipped through his latest reports. “Sure,” he said absently. His latest client was kicking up a fuss about the exact specifications for their remodeling, wavering between stains for their flooring. He really needed to get on the phone with her and hammer out the details, but Sokka had barged into his office and apparently wanted to talk. 

“I mean, what’s not to love,” Sokka said, leaning back in his chair. “He’s smart, funny, good at math.” He ticked off on his fingers as he spoke. “The full package, really.”

“Uh huh,” Hakoda said. “Listen, Sokka, can this wait until—“

“Trust me, you’re gonna want to see this,” Sokka insisted. 

“See what—“ Hakoda started, but Sokka was already pushing his way behind his desk. He plugged in a flash drive which he had procured from seemingly nowhere and, with several keystrokes, pulled up a fluorescent PowerPoint. It was titled simply Bato, in all caps and in rainbow font. 

“What,” Hakoda said. 

“Reasons Bato is amazing,” Sokka said, hitting the spacebar and gesturing animatedly at the laptop as he spoke. “One, he gives good hugs; two, his hair is very soft; three, he makes you smile a lot; five, he can fight better than you; six, he makes me sandwiches sometimes and they’re really good.”

“What happened to number four?” Hakoda asked numbly. It was the only thing he could focus on, surrounded by all the other concerning questions which were running through his mind. 

“It’s bad luck,” Sokka said, waving him away. “And, most importantly, number seven, he’s very handsome.” This bullet point was in an obscenely large and rainbow font, with several exclamation points after it. It was also surrounded by various pictures of Bato, all with circles and arrows pointing towards him. 

“Most important?” Hakoda repeated, still a little stunned. 

“Exactly,” Sokka nodded. He looked at Hakoda as though waiting for something, and when Hakoda just stared back, befuddled, he hit the spacebar again. “Correlation between Bato being happy, and Bato being in a relationship.” Sokka pointed to the chart on the screen. “As you can see, it’s a positive relationship. Are you seeing what I’m telling you, here?”

“You... want me to help you set Bato up on a date?” Hakoda guessed. That knocked him out of his stupor. Bato didn’t  _ need _ a relationship. Bato had him. 

“Bato is perfectly happy the way he is,” Hakoda said, trying not to snap. For some reason the thought of Bato being in a relationship made him feel all— panicky and weird. “And where did you even get all these pictures?” Hakoda demanded. 

“My Snapchat memories.”

“Your what?”

“Never mind. The point is, Bato has been looking unhappy lately and a little dating would go a long way to turning that frown upside down.”

“Sokka, I don’t know what you’re up to, but keep Bato out of it.”

“I’m not up to anything!” Sokka protested. 

“Out,” Hakoda repeated, both a warning and a command. He shook his head as he watched Sokka slink out the door. What went on in that kid’s head was a mystery to Hakoda. Although... 

Hakoda took his phone out and snapped a picture of some of the more amusing parts of the slideshow, sending them to Bato. He was sure to get a kick out of this. 

~~~ 

“Back to the drawing board,” Sokka announced, walking into the war room. 

“I told you he wouldn’t be able to work it,” Katara said smugly to Zuko. Sokka watched with outrage as Zuko reluctantly handed her over a bill. 

“Sucker bet, Sparky,” Toph said, shaking her head. “Everyone knows Sokka is about as subtle as a freight train.”

“I believed in you, Sokka,” Aang said loyally. Sokka was somewhat mollified, until he saw Zuko slap a bill in Aang's hand as well. Aang grinned guiltily as Sokka shot him a glare. 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Zuko asked. “That was our best bet.”

“I still say we could just tie them together,” Toph said. “I have some rope hidden in my mom’s car.”

“Why—“ Katara started, but Suki interrupted her. 

“Okay guys,” she said, tapping away at her phone furiously. “I’m getting some expert advice, since you guys obviously have no idea what you’re doing.”

“Hey!” Zuko said. 

“No, you’re right,” Sokka said. “We need all the help we can get. What is it?”

“Okay,” Suki said, finally looking up. “Ty Lee is saying that the best way to get a guy to like you is to make them jealous.”

“So, we need to make your dad jealous of Bato?” Aang said doubtfully. “You could try telling him that Bato fights better than him.”

“I already did that,” Sokka said mournfully. “It didn’t work.”

“Not jealous  _ of  _ him, silly, jealous that he can’t  _ be  _ with him,” Suki said. “And that maybe someone else is. We need to set Bato up on a date, basically.”

“We’re going to get my dad and Bato together… by not getting them together?” Katara asked. 

“Exactly,” Suki beamed. 

Everyone looked at Sokka, him being the unofficial leader of this mission. Sokka thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t like they had any better ideas. At this point, if it didn’t work he might just go with Toph's idea.

“Alright,” Sokka decided. “Let’s do it.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So,” Sokka said, and Bato hummed absently, focused on the pot in front of him as he swept vegetables into the suaasat. Bato held his hand up next to him, frowning and looking up when nothing appeared in it. Sokka looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Bato blinked.

Oh. Right. He thought the kitchen had been quieter than normal. Bato looked around, vaguely expecting Hakoda to pop up like a demented jack in the box. 

“Have you seen your dad anywhere?” Bato asked, turning to his side where Sokka was now trying to sneak a taste from the pot. 

Sokka stared at him, brown eyes wide on his. “You miss Dad?”

“He…” _knows what spices I use_ he didn’t say, because it wasn’t Sokka’s fault he didn’t know. Hakoda just somehow always had the exact right ingredient in his hands before Bato asked. Bato frowned at the counter, which looked emptier than normal.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Bato asked, trying to change the subject. “Besides stealing food.” He smacked away Sokka’s creeping hand. Sokka yelped, looking at him with betrayed eyes.

“I’m a growing boy,” Sokka said accusingly. “You’re stunting my growth. It’s a conspiracy to steal all the height in this house for yourself.”

“I think that ship has sailed,” Bato said kindly, because Hakoda wasn’t exactly short, but Kya had been tiny. He left the soup for a moment to retrieve some cilantro from the fridge, tossing it in and squeezing in some lime juice for good measure. 

He turned to look at Sokka, who was still staring at the pot mournfully. Bato sighed, and spooned some of the broth out. 

“What do you think?” Bato asked as Sokka leaned forward to take a pleased sip.

”Spicy,” Sokka approved. “But it needs more salt.” 

“Bottom shelf,” Bato nodded. Sokka took it out and shook copious amounts into the bubbling liquid as Bato stirred. 

“Anyway,” Sokka said a moment later. “I came because— well I need a favor, actually.”

Ah. So that was what this was about. Bato paused, a sudden thought striking him. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with that PowerPoint, would it?” Bato asked suspiciously. 

Sokka flushed, pink under tan skin. “Dad showed you that? Look, I only said that you had a hot dad bod because it was completely relevant, please don’t be mad.”

Bato stared. “You said what?” Hakoda hadn’t sent him that part. Sokka groaned, smacking his forehead with his palm. 

“Look, can we just forget about the PowerPoint, please? And no, my favor is something else. It’s... well, it’s Zuko.”

“Your boyfriend? Look, Sokka, I really don’t want to get involved in whatever—“

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sokka protested. “Or, maybe he is? It’s kind of unclear.”

“Well, until you figure that out...“ Bato said, trailing off meaningfully and desperately hoping for an end to the conversation. Sokka promptly shattered his hopes by speaking again.

“Listen,” Sokka said, spreading his hands. “Zuko's dad—“

“The insane one?”

“—has this brother—“

“He keeps trying to make me drink his tea. I hate tea.”

“—who has this old friend who’s coming to town—“

“And I hope they’ll have a lot of fun together, but I still don’t see—“ 

“—and I need you to go on a date with him.”

“What?” Bato stopped short, staring. “Why do you need me to go on a date with your,” he paused, thinking back, “sort of boyfriend’s dad's brother’s old friend from out of town? Why are we even talking about your sort of boyfriend’s dad’s broth—“

“Because,” Sokka said in a rush. “I was thinking of maybe finally asking Zuko out this weekend, but he told me he was planning on spending the day with his uncle before I could ask, and of course I would never get in the way of that, but if his uncle's friend is coming to town then his uncle will have to spend the weekend with him instead of Zuko, and then Zuko will be sad.” Sokka looked at him mournfully. “You don’t want Zuko to be sad, do you?” 

Sokka slipped his phone out of his pocket and waved it under Bato’s nose. Bato looked down. On the lit up lock screen was a picture of Sokka and Zuko, grinning up at the screen. There was a bit of frosting on Sokka’s nose, and Zuko was looking at him like he had personally hung the moon. It was, Bato could admit, a pretty cute picture.

“No,” Bato said firmly. 

“Come on,” Sokka pleaded. “It’ll be fun! Zuko’s uncle said he’s really into, like, swords and sparring and stuff. You’ll have so much in common! You can talk about, I don’t know, the best ways to disembowel a man.”

“Tempting,” Bato said, turning the flame to a low simmer. “But still no.”

Sokka let out a long sigh, tucking his phone away. “Alright then,” he said sadly. “Guess I’ll just have to ask Dad instead.” 

Sokka turned and started moving towards the door. Bato gaped after him. Hakoda would do it too, was the thing. He was polite like that, ever willing to lend a hand. 

Really, Bato would be saving him from a night of torture. Hakoda wouldn’t be interested in someone who only liked— swords, and sparring and stuff. He would be bored out of his mind. Bato scowled into the suaasat.

“Wait,” Bato said, and Sokka stilled in place, back still turned towards him. “When is this date?” Bato said reluctantly. 

Sokka turned, grin splitting his face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Sokka said, colliding into Bato to give him a hug. “Tomorrow night, you won’t regret it, I swear.”

“I already am,” Bato sighed, but he hugged back. “Go and call your sister,” Bato said, ruffling his hair. “I’m almost done here.” 

“You got it!” He dashed out of the room, still with that wide grin.

“And set the table,” Bato called after him, shaking his head at the sound of Sokka’s excited voice coming from upstairs. 

~~~ 

“Everything’s in place,” Aang whispered through the walkie talkie, voice crackling.

“Copy that,” Sokka said into the receiver. “Bato has left the premises. Zuko is ready at the drop off site.” 

It had taken some finagling (Sokka begged Zuko, and Zuko begged his uncle) to arrange for Bato’s date to take place at his uncle's tea shop where Zuko was conveniently spending the day, but it was worth it. By this time tomorrow Dad and Bato would be together and the rest of Team Avatar would recognize Sokka for the genius he was. And Dad and Bato would be happy, of course. 

“What are you doing?” came a voice from behind him and Sokka yelped, fumbling and just barely catching the walkie talkie with the tips of his fingers. 

“Don’t scare me like that,” he hissed. Katara and Toph were standing at the doorway, looking at him with more judgement in their eyes than Sokka felt was strictly appropriate. “And you know what! Bato’s going on his date, do you guys even read the memos I send you?”

“I would,” Toph said. “But I can’t read.”

“Toph, you have a text to voice translator,” Sokka said, unimpressed. “That excuse doesn’t work anymore.”

“Oh,” Toph said thoughtfully. “Well then I would, but I don’t care.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, moving the walkie talkie up to his mouth again. “Eagle two, do we have any updates?”

“Bato has gotten into the car,” Aang confirmed from where he was watching outside. 

“Why are you using walkie talkies?” Katara said exasperatedly. “You can see Bato through the window.”

Sokka looked out the window. He could see Bato, actually. 

“Give me that,” Katara said, snatching the walkie talkie from his hands. “Aang, come inside already. Sokka’s just being an idiot.”

“Eagle two!” Sokka protested. “Respect the code names!”

“Fine,” Katara said. She spoke into the receiver. “Eagle two, come inside.”

“Got it!” A rush of air blew in and suddenly Aang was standing in front of them. 

“So what now?” Toph asked, plopping down to the floor of the living room while blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes. The rest of them followed, Sokka sprawling against the back of the couch. 

“Well,” Sokka said thoughtfully, “Dad should be leaving soon to rescue him. So, we just wait for that I guess.”

They sat in silence for a bit. Sokka drummed his fingers against the seat of the couch. He glanced up at Toph, who looked like she was attempting to merge with the ground. Aang seemed to be making some sort of necklace in the corner. Sokka drummed his fingers faster. 

“Maybe we can go check on him,” Katara suggested. “Just to be sure.”

They jumped up, relieved. “Great idea,” Sokka said enthusiastically. He led them toward the kitchen, where Sokka had heard Dad moving around in before. That in and of itself was slightly concerning— there was a reason Bato came over so often to cook— but Sokka supposed he was just grabbing a snack before setting off to snag the man of his dreams. Maybe he was even making Bato a meal to show him his suitability as a partner. Sokka considered this thought for a moment, then quickened his pace slightly. Dad was going to need all the help he could get. 

They entered the room, and instantly Sokka could tell that something was wrong. Dad was— he was _humming._ To some horrid eighties song, while contentedly spreading jam on some toast over by the kitchen island and he _wasn’t leaving._

“What is going on?” Katara asked baffledly, turning to look at them.

“Maybe this is like his pre-game?” Aang offered, scratching the back of his head. Sokka glanced over his shoulder and counted to his horror no less than four— _four—_ holes in Dad’s ratty sweats.

“Guys,” Sokka said with a slowly dawning horror. “He needs so much more help than I thought.”

“No way,” Katara said immediately. “Dad’s bad at romance, but he’s not this bad.” She turned to him, hands on her hips. “You must have missed something!”

“No I didn’t!” Sokka shot back. “Maybe you missed something, you ever thought of that?”

“Well maybe if _you_ weren’t so—“

“Alright guys, let's break it up,” Toph finally spoke up, sticking one hand out to stop Katara from where she was storming forward. “Sokka, can you run us through the plan again? Maybe we all missed something.”

“It was simple,” Sokka said, running a hand through his hair frustratedly. “We convince Bato to go on a date, my job. We find him someone who is preferably both a man and has a terrible personality, Zuko’s job. Dad gets jealous, he goes to rescue him, they live happily ever after! There was literally nowhere it could have gone wrong.” There was a beat of silence, all of them thinking furiously. Then— 

“Sokka,” Katara said slowly. “Did you ever actually _tell_ Dad that Bato was going on a date?” 

Sokka stared at her, agape. “It was… I mean…”

“Oh man,” Toph groaned, smacking her palm to her forehead, “you forgot the most important part!”

“How was I supposed to know Dad wouldn’t know?” Sokka hissed defensively. “They have that freaky— telepathic bond— thing— I thought it would just kick in!”

“What’s kicking in?” 

They all jumped, guiltily turning around. Dad had crept up on them while they were talking, light footed as always. It was a hunter thing, Sokka was pretty sure. Dad had taught him and Katara to do the same when he took them hunting. The only difference was that Sokka didn’t do it all the time, because he was normal. Still, Sokka supposed, it wasn’t Dad’s fault he walked like a demented cat. Sokka could be sympathetic to the less naturally fortunate.

“Nothing,” Katara said quickly, moving to his side. “Actually Dad,” Katara said, “me and Aang were just talking and we really wanted to get some Kakigōri, you know the one from Uncle Iroh’s shop?”

“We were?” Aang said confusedly. Sokka saw, from the corner of his eye, Toph direct a solid punch to Aang’s arm. Aang yelped, quickly turning it into a nervous laugh as Dad looked at him. “Yes sir. I love shaved ice! So many different options. Blueberry ice, and raspberry ice, and pineapple ice. Really a flavor for everyone. We should go there. The flavor for everyone could become the flavor for you. You might even find… _the_ flavor for you.” Aang nodded rapidly in Dad’s direction, beaming. If Dad’s eyebrows rose any higher they would be in danger of hitting the roof.

“What Aang means is we’d really appreciate it if you could give us a ride, Dad,” Sokka said. 

“Oh,” Dad said, expression clearing up. He looked to Sokka curiously. “Doesn’t your friend Suki usually drive you guys around?”

“She’s at her grandmother’s,” Sokka explained. Suki had been disappointed she wouldn’t be able to make it, but she had made Sokka promise to text her with any important updates. 

“Well,” Dad said. “Alright, I don’t see why not. I haven’t talked to Iroh in a while. Let me just get my keys—“

“And change,” Katara said sweetly. 

“It’s just Iroh,” Dad said bemusedly. “I’m not looking for a marriage proposal.”

“You never know,” Sokka said sagely, pushing Dad towards his room. “You never know.”

~~~

Hakoda pushed open the door to the tea shop, low conversation filling his ears as they made their way through the restaurant. He spotted in the back of the restaurant a dark head of hair bent over what seemed to be a playwright.

“Hey,” Zuko said, looking up with some surprise as they reached him. “I thought you said it would only be— actually, never mind,” he said hastily. “It’s good to see you all! Uncle’s busy right now, but I can get you food, if you want some.”

“Don’t worry about it Sparky, there’s plenty of other servers here,” Toph said, waving him off. “Don’t work on your day off.”

“Alright,” Zuko smiled. They all started settling around the table. Hakoda turned to Zuko. 

“Hey kiddo,” Hakoda said. “Have you seen your uncle anywhere? I wanted to talk to him about something.” 

“I’m pretty sure I saw him behind the register a couple minutes ago,” Zuko said.

Hakoda nodded, turning around. A sudden screeching noise filled the air, and Hakoda looked back, startled. Everyone had gotten up from their chairs. 

“We’ll go with you,” Sokka said brightly.

“Oh,” Hakoda said, confused. “You really don’t have to do that—“

“We want to,” Zuko said. He looked back at the table dubiously. “Aang, maybe you could stay here to order the food?”

“I’ll stay too then,” Katara decided. 

“Really all of you can stay,” Hakoda tried but Sokka was already pushing his chair back under the table. Hakoda sighed, and started toward the front of the shop again. 

“Actually,” Zuko said before he could take more than a step, looking at Sokka. “There’s a new register, it’s this way.”

“A new... register?” Hakoda said. He looked towards the front of the shop. “I can see it right there.”

“Yes,” Zuko said, looking slightly desperately at Sokka. Sokka mouthed something to him. “It’s a new one. For special…” he squinted, “hostile bears,” he said uncertainly.

“Excuse me?” Hakoda said.

“Customers,” Sokka said hastily. “Special customers, which, look at that, you just so happen to be! Right this way.” He marched off, Toph and Zuko trailing after him. 

“Okay,” Hakoda muttered, going after them as they moved towards the other side of the restaurant. His children had been acting stranger than normal lately, and that was saying a lot for them. 

They made their way to the side of the shop, and as they passed through the booths he swept his eyes over the occupied tables. They were each divided by a thick wooden frame, positioned to give the most privacy. When he saw the familiar flash of dark hair, it took him a moment to process it. He stopped, blinking. What. Just— what? Sokka seemed to be feeling something similar, because he froze in place next to Hakoda, eyes wide. 

“Master Piandao?” Sokka said, blinking at the man sitting in the booth. 

The man looked at him in surprise. “Sokka?”

“Hakoda?” Bato said, brows furrowing. 

“Bato,” Hakoda said quietly, unable to tear his eyes away from where the man— Piandao— was resting his hand out on the table.

“Toph,” Toph said. They all turned to look at her. “What?” she said defensively, crossing her arms. “I was feeling left out.”

“Sokka, you know Piandao?” Bato asked.

“Yeah, he used to be my teacher,” Sokka said enthusiastically. “One of the best I’ve ever had, it’s so good to see you again master! And you’re... oh,” and Hakoda didn’t like the way Sokka looked up at him at that moment at all. 

Sokka turned towards Zuko, dragging him aside slightly as they started a furiously whispered argument that Hakoda only caught snatches of. Toph, on her part, seemed to have taken the distraction as an opportunity to make her escape. He took all of it in absently, because more important was—

“You’re… on a date,” Hakoda said, slightly obviously. 

“Ah, yes,” Bato agreed. He raised his eyebrow slightly and Hakoda looked back, stomach in knots. 

~~~

“Master Piandao? _Really?”_

Zuko threw his hands up exasperatedly. “How could I have known he was your— sifu swordsman, or whatever? He lives on the other side of the country, excuse me for not checking first to make sure Bato’s date wasn’t your secret third dad.”

“One job,” Sokka stabbed a finger up threateningly. “ _One job._ I said, Zuko, please find me someone with a terrible personality. Master Piandao does not have a terrible personality!”

“Technically,” Zuko pointed out, “it was two jobs. He is a man.” Sokka did not look impressed by this reasoning. 

“One out of two,” Sokka said evenly, “is fifty percent. That is a failing grade.”

“Not if you retake the class—“ 

“There is no class! This is Dad’s love life we’re talking about here, do you want him to be sad and lonely forever?”

Zuko sighed. “Look, he was the best I could do on such short notice, okay? I tried getting Jeong Jeong, but well, he doesn’t really leave his house.”

“Great,” Sokka groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. “Zuko, if I actually do end up getting three dads because of this, I’m never forgiving you.”

“You won’t,” Zuko said confidently. From all he’d seen, Sokka’s dad was a confident guy. Nothing seemed to phase him. Zuko was sure this would be no different. 

~~~

“A date,” Hakoda repeated helplessly. Bato looked at him in concern. Hakoda understood the sentiment. He wished he could stop acting like such an idiot, too. 

“Are you alright, Hakoda?” Bato asked.

“Fine. Just— fine.”

“Alright,” Bato said slowly. “I didn't realize you would be coming here today.”

“Yeah, the uh, kids, wanted,” he waved his hands vaguely, “Kakigōri.”

“Did they?” Bato said, casting a suspicious look at Sokka. Sokka whipped around from his whispered argument, smiling blindingly at Bato. “Right,” Bato said, looking unimpressed. “Well anyway, Piandao, this is my friend Hakoda, Hakoda, this is—”

“Piandao.” The man rose up, reaching out to shake his hand with a smile. Hakoda noted with great offense that he had a couple inches on Hakoda. “Sokka is your son?” Piandao said. “You've raised an incredible kid.”

“Thanks,” Hakoda said unenthusiastically. Then, because ending it there seemed rude, he added “Sokka’s mentioned you a lot.” This was stretching the truth slightly, but it did carry him on talking until Sokka and Zuko came back. Hakoda gratefully tuned them out as Sokka and Piandao started a conversation about— painting? Something along those lines.

Hakoda looked over at Bato. There was something here, something he was missing. It was like one of those ink blot tests Hakoda had always hated doing, where he shifted his head and something familiar was suddenly new and strange. Maybe the answer was hidden in the slope of Bato’s jaw, or the cut of his cheekbone. Bato suddenly shifted his gaze towards him, dark eyes inquisitive on his. Hakoda didn’t look away. 

“...and Dad and Bato actually run some self defense classes at the community center, right Dad?”

“Right,” Hakoda said, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Bato’s. “I… like working with kids.”

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Piandao said cheerfully. “Bato here was just telling me about some of the work you guys do, it sounds like impressive stuff.” He placed his hand lightly on Bato’s shoulder. Hakoda suppressed the wild urge to smack it away. This was bad. He needed to retreat, before he did something stupid. 

“Uh huh,” Hakoda said. “Well, listen, it was very nice meeting you, but I actually have a— a thing.”

“A thing,” Bato said skeptically, leaning back in his chair. 

“Yes,” Hakoda nodded firmly. “A…” his phone helpfully rang at that moment. “A work call,” Hakoda said, relieved. “Very important, gotta go.” He swiveled around and started walking briskly toward the door. 

~~~

Katara sucked on her Boba, metal straw cool against her mouth as she peered in fascination at the complete dumpster fire that was happening on the other side of the shop. Sokka’s plans had a tendency to be a little harebrained, Katara could admit, but this was—

“Excellent,” she said with relish. Aang looked up from where he was digging into his Kakigōri, chomping on the ice noisily.

“What is?”

“Dad,” Katara said smugly, nodding to where Dad was now hurriedly walking away from Piandao and Bato, Zuko and Sokka watching him go with their mouths slightly open. “He looks like he did that one time Sokka accidently set his favorite bow on fire.”

“That’s… terrible?” Aang said, blinking. 

“No, that means he’s jealous,” Katara corrected. “That means, the plan is working.”

“Oh,” Aang said, brightening up. “Well that’s great then.”

“Right?” Katara sighed, taking another sip of her Boba. “This is just like in that romance novel I was just reading.”

“The one about the vampire hunter?” Aang asked, befuddled.

“No, the one about the—“ she cut off, squinting at him. “How did you know about the vampire hunter one?” Katara had never told him about that. 

Aang suddenly looked very guilty. “It was just sitting there,” he said. “You were at your dance class, and I got bored.”

Katara covered her mouth with her palm. “Aang,” she said, fighting back a grin. “Of all the things I know about you, the fact that you read vampire hunter romances when you’re bored is my favorite thing.”

“It was really good,” Aang confessed, grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Akko and Shusei are so cute together.” A noise that was not quite a squeal came out of Katara’s mouth. 

“We have so much to talk about,” Katara said, scooching forward. Aang looked pleased.

  
Katara took a sip, then paused. “Oh,” she said, looking up. “Maybe we should go check on Dad now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like and comment if you liked it! Comments give me life and motivation :D
> 
> THIS FIC HAS FANART It’s genuinely hilarious and so well drawn, check it out [here](https://timetohope.tumblr.com/post/627539542858186752/image-description-a-digial-composition-made-to)!! 
> 
> Betad by the incredible [ Odae ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Odae/pseuds/Odae) who I could not have done this without, go check out her stuff it’s amazing!


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